Ref: EDC 5/1566/9

Catalogue Entry:

There is no catalogue entry for this cause but the papers are filed in a paper folder labelled EDC 5 (1566) NO 9 PRESCOT

Summary:

Ellen [Helen] Smith contra Katherine Moseley, wife of John Moseley.

The sentence is absolutory in favour of Katherine but does not record that it was ever read and issued, so it was probably a draft (see notes on sentences).

 

 

Year

1566

Type of Cause:

Defamation – sexual slander

Cause Papers:

Exceptions against the witnesses for the plaintiff
Sentence – probably draft

Exceptions against the witnesses for the plaintiff (image 1)

Original Document

Click to view fullscreen

Translation

[5/1566/9 image 1]

[…]  commissary general, sufficiently and lawfully deputed, of William, by divine permission lord bishop of Chester or other judge whomsoever competent in this behalf, between Ellen Smith of the parish of Prescot of Chester diocese and jurisdiction, pretended plaintiff and complaining party on the one part and Katherine Moseley of the parish of Warrington of Chester diocese and also of your jurisdiction, defendant and party complained of, on the other part, is disputed and is still pending undecided, in the term judicially assigned to her for speaking and excepting against the characters, statements and depositions of certain pretended witnesses upon the positions and articles of a certain pretended false and fictitious libel invalidly produced on behalf of the said Ellen Smith. The party of the said Katherine Moseley, excepting against the same pretended witnesses, the statements and depositions of the same, says, alleges and in these writings propounds in articles as follows:

Firstly, this party, in excepting, propounds against Thomas Haslingden, the first pretended witness introduced against her, that his testimony is null and invalid and for the whole and entire time of his production, admission, oath-swearing and examination he has been and was a useless, inept and unsuitable witness, and to be prohibited, excluded and rejected from giving evidence in this behalf, inasmuch as the said pretended witness is a near neighbour and the greatest and closest friend of the party producing him also a principal supporter and promotor of the said pretended cause, therefore he could not nor cannot, at least in law, depose against the said Katherine Moseley, and his testimony is not and cannot be of any value, as hereafter will plainly appear, to which this excepting party refers and will have here inserted, as far as it is expedient to him and not otherwise nor in any other manner.

Transcript

[5/1566/9 image 1]

[…] domini Willielmi permissione divina
Cestrensi Episcopi, commissario generali sufficienter et Legitime de-
putato seu alio Judice in hac parte competenti quocunque
Inter Elenam Smith parochie de prescot Cestrensis <diocesis> et Jurisdiccionis
partem pretensam actricem et querelantem, ex vna, et Katheren
Moseley parochie de Warington Cestrensis diocesis et vestre
quoque Jurisdiccionis  partem ream et querelantam partibus ex
a[ltera] vertitur et adhuc pendet indecise in termino
sibi Judicaliter assignato ad di[cendum] et excipiendum
contra personas dictos et depositiones quorundam pretensorum
testium, super positionibus et articulis cuisdam pretensi falsi
et ficti libelli, ex parte dicte Ellenæ Smith nulliter
productorum. Pars dicte Katherinæ Moseley, contra
eosdem pretensos testes, dictas et depositiones eorundem
dicit allegat et in hijs scriptis excipiendo proponit
articulatim provt sequitur

In primis pars ista excipiendo proponit contra Thomam
Haslingdane primum pretensum testem contra se inductum
quod ipsius testimonium est nullum et invalidum ac toto
et omni tempore sue productionis admissionis Juramenti presta-
tionis et examinacionis, fuit et erat testis invtilis
ineptus et inidoneus, ac a testimonio in hac parte
prohibendum repellendum ac reijiciendum Pro eo videlicet et
ex eo quod dictus pretensus testis est proximus vicinus
summus et intimus amicus partis eum producentis
etiam dicte pretensæ causa principalis fautor et promotor
quapropter nihil poterat siue potest deponere
saltem de Jure contra, dictam Katherinam Moseley
nec testimonium eius valet aut valere potest prout
imposterum dilucide apparebit ad quæ refert
se pars ista excipiens et hic pro insertis habere
vult, quatenus sibi expedit et non aliter nec
alio modo

Exceptions against the witnesses for the plaintiff (image 2)

Original Document

Click to view fullscreen

Translation

[5/1566/9 image 2]

Also, this party, in excepting, propounds against [William Barnes], the second pretended witness, that his testimony […] false, null and invalid and for the whole and entire time of his production, admission, oath-swearing and examination he has been and was a useless, inept and unsuitable witness, and to be prohibited in law from giving evidence in this behalf and to be excluded and rejected, inasmuch as the said pretended witness is brother by marriage of the said Ellen Smith and for this said reason not admissible at all and to be prohibited from testimony against the said Katherine, at least in a criminal cause, for it is considered by Lanfranc in his chapter on the depositions of witnesses that affine[1] cannot be a witness for affine in a criminal cause “vt l. iij. q. j. C. j. et iij. q. ix.C. praesens”[2] and moreover this pretended witness produced is a prime mover and promoter of this cause, as will manifestly appear by lawful proofs in the event of this suit and therefore […] he cannot depose against the said Katherine Moseley, and his testimony is not and cannot, at least in law, be of any value, to which this excepting party refers and will have here inserted, as far as it is expedient to him and not otherwise nor in any other manner.

Also, all and singular the premises were and are true, public, notorious, manifest and equally well-known and regarding and concerning this public voice and fame were and are circulating etc. the party of the said Katherine Moseley prays that right and justice may be administered to him in the premises and the said pretended false, perjured, useless and unsuitable witnesses and their null and void statements and depositions are decreed, pronounced and declared lacking […] by reason of the premises and that she, Katherine, is dismissed from further suit and unjust vexation by the said Ellen, together with the expenses by you and your definitive sentence, lord Judge aforesaid; not binding himself to prove all and singular the premises, nor to the burden of a superfluous proof, against which he protests, but so far as he shall prove in the premises so much etc.

[1] Affine – a relative by marriage.

[2] This is a rare type of reference in these Cause Papers and refers to a book on trial practice by Lanfranco de Oriano (d. 1488), who was a jurist and professor of law in Padua, specialising in procedural law.

Transcript

[5/1566/9 image 2]

Item excipiendo proponit [pars] ista contra [William Barnes]
secundum pretensum testem quod ipsius testim[onium] […]falsum
nullum et invalidum ac toto et omni tempore sue produc-
tionis admissionis Juramenti prestacionis et examinacionis
fuit et erat, testis invtilis ineptus ac inidoneus, ac a
testimonio in hac parte de Jure prohibendus repellendus
ac reijiciendus Pro eo videlicet et ex eo quod dictus pretensus
testis est frater affinitate dicte Ellenæ Smith et hac
Dicte causæ non admittendus omnino, ad prohibendum testimonium
contra <dictam Katherinam> saltem in causa criminali, habetur nam que
Lanfranco Capite de testium depositionibus, quod affinis pro affine
in causa criminali <testis> esse non potest vt l. iij. q. j. C. j. et iij. q. ix
C. præsens est preterea testis iste, pretensus, productus dictæ
causæ principalis fautor, et promotor vt per probationes
Legitimes in eventu huius Litis manifeste apparebit
[…] nihil potest saltem de Jure deponere
contra dictam Katherinam Moseley nec testimonium
euis valet aut de Jure valore potest ad quæ
refert pars ista excipiens et hic pro insertis
habere vult quatenus sibi expedit et non aliter
nec alio modo

Item premissa omnia et singula fuerunt et sunt vera
publica notoria manifesta pariter ac famosa ac de
et super huiusmodi Laborarunt et ad huc laborant publica
vox et fama et cetera petit pars dicte Katherine
Mosley Jus et Justiciam in premissis sibi ministrari
et dictos pretensos testes, falsos periuros, ineptos ac inidoneos
eorumque dicta et depostiones nulla et Invalida […]
carentia premissorum pretextu decernendum pronunciandum et
Declarandum ipsamque Katherenam ab vlteriori instancia
et inusta vexacione dicte Elenæ vna cum expensis
Dimmitti per vos et vestram sententiam diffinitivam domine Judex
antedicte non arctans se ad omnia et singula premissa pro[banda]
nec ad onus superflue probationis de quo protestatur
Sed quatenus probaverit in premissis eatenus et cetera

Exceptions against the witnesses for the plaintiff (image 3)

Original Document

Click to view fullscreen

Translation

[5/1566/9 image 3]

[Endorsement]

 […] against  the witnesses of  Ellen Smith exhibited in the year of our Lord 1566.

[In a later hand] Prescot

[Produced with the permission of the Chester Diocesan Board of Finance.]

Translation copyright ©2022 P J Cox All Rights Reserved

Transcript

[5/1566/9 image 3]

[Endorsement]

[…] cont[ra] […] testes Elena Smith exhibit’ Anno Domini 1566

[In a later hand] Prescot

[Produced with the permission of the Chester Diocesan Board of Finance.]

Transcript copyright ©2022 P J Cox All Rights Reserved

Sentence

Original Document

Click to view fullscreen

Translation

[5/1566/9 image 4]

[There is no note that this sentence has been read, so it is probably a draft which was never passed.]

In the name of God, Amen: the merits and circumstances of a certain pretended cause of defamation which was disputed for a long time and is still disputed and is pending undecided before us having been heard, viewed, understood and fully investigated by us, Robert Leche, Master of Arts and Bachelor of Laws, vicar general in spirituals of the right reverend father in Christ, William, by divine permission lord bishop of Chester, and lawfully appointed official principal of his Chester consistory court; between Ellen Smith of the parish of Prescot of Chester diocese, as plaintiff and complaining party on the one part, and Katherine Moseley, of the parish of Warrington, of Chester diocese and of your jurisdiction, the defending party or defendant on the other part, the parties aforesaid proceeding rightly and lawfully namely, the party of the said Ellen Smith appearing personally and by William Man, Master of Arts, her lawfully appointed proctor according to the acts of the court also the party of the said Katherine Moseley appearing personally and by Robert Parkinson, Bachelor of Arts, her lawfully appointed proctor according to the acts of the court; the party of the aforesaid Ellen Smith praying that sentence is passed and justice is administered to her, while the party of the said Katherine Moseley also praying that justice is administered to her.

The whole and entire proceedings had and done in this cause having first been examined and diligently considered by us and matters which according to law should be observed in this cause having been observed by us, we have thus thought fit to making the pronouncement of our definitive sentence in the said cause, and we do proceed in this manner which follows:

Because we know and clearly find by the acts enacted, brought, propounded and alleged, confessed and proved in the above-mentioned cause that the said Ellen Smith has not in any way sufficiently established and not at all proved her claim propounded by her party in a certain libel in the same cause (the tenor of which certain libel follows and is thus; In the name of God, Amen; before you etc., which libel we wish to have here read and inserted) but has altogether failed in proof of this cause, we also find by the acts etc. in the same cause that the said Katherine Moseley has sufficiently proved her exceptive material against certain pretended witnesses produced in the same cause.

Therefore we, the vicar aforesaid, having first called upon the name of Christ, with the advice of those learned in the law with whom we have communicated promptly in this behalf, have thought fit completely to dismiss the said Katherine Moseley from further suit and petition of the said Ellen Smith, plaintiff, in and upon the aforesaid cause, just as we do fully dismiss and absolve her by this our definitive and absolutory sentence. We decree that the said Ellen Smith, plaintiff, is to be condemned to pay to the said Katherine Moseley her necessary costs incurred and to be hereafter incurred in the said cause, on account of her cause rashly and unjustly started and begun, and on account of the unjust vexation inflicted on the said Katherine Moseley, just as we condemn her, Ellen Smith, in the aforesaid expenses by this final decree or our definitive sentence judicially issued, read and promulgated in writing; likewise reserving the taxation of these costs to us, which at present we do likewise reserve.

[5/1566/9 image 5]

[Endorsement]

Absolutory sentence of Katherine Mosley against Ellen Smith in a cause of defamation exhibited [space to insert the day and month] in the year of our Lord 1566.

[In a later hand] Prescot

[Produced with the permission of the Chester Diocesan Board of Finance.]

Translation copyright ©2022 P J Cox All Rights Reserved

Transcript

[5/1566/9 image 4]

In Dei nomine Amen: auditis visis intellectis et plenarie discussis per nos Rob[ertum]
Lech artium magistrum et in legibus Baccalarium Reverendi in christo patris et domini domini Willelmi
permissione divina Cestrensis Episcopi vicarium in spiritualibus generalem, ac eius Curie Consistorialis
Cestrensis officialem principalem Legitime deputatum Meritis et circumstantijs, cuiusdam
pretensæ <causæ> diffamationis quæ coram nobis,  aliquando diu vertebatur et adhuc vertitur
pendetque indecisæ Inter Elenam Smith parochie de prescot Cestrensis diocesis partem
actricem et querelantem ex una et Katherenam Mosley parochie de Warington
Cestrensis diocesis ac vestre Jurisdiccionis partem ream seu defendentem partibus ex altera
rite et Legitime procedentes partibus predictis videlicet
parte dicte Ellenæ Smith per se personaliter et per Willelmum Man Artium Magistrum eius procu-
ratorem Legitime apud acta constitutum comparenti parte autem dicte Katherenæ
Mosley per se personaliter et per Robertum parkynson in artibus Baccalarium eius procurat[orem]
apud acta Legitime constitutum comparenti parte ante dicte Ellenæ
Smith  Sententiam ferri et Justiciam sibi fieri: parte vero dicte Katherenæ Mosley
Justiciam etiam sibi fieri postulantibus

Rimato per nos primitus toto et integro proc[essu]
in huiusmodi causa habito et facto ac diligenter recensito Servatisque per nos in huiusmodi
causa <de Jure> servandis ad nostre Sentencie diffinitiue prolacionem in dicta causa ferendam sic
duximus procedendum et procedimus in hunc qui sequitur modum

Quia per acta inacti-
tata deducta proposita ac allegata confessata et probata, in memorata causa comperi-
mus et Luculenter invenimus dictam Ellenam Smith intentionem suam in quodam libello per
eius partem in eadem causa proposito cuius quidem libelli tenor sequitur et est talis In
dei nomine Amen coram vobis et cetera quem quidem libellum pro hic lecto et inserto habere
volumus nequamque sufficienter fundasse nullatenumque probasse sed in causa probationis huiusmodi
omnino defecisse et luculentur etiam comperimus per acta et cetera in eadem causa dictam Katherenam
Mosley mateream suam exceptivam contra quosdam pretensos testes in dicta causa productos suffic-
ienter probasse

Idcirco nos vicarius antedictus christi nomine primitus invocato cum consilio
Jurisperitorum cum quibus  in hac parte mature communicavimus dictam Katherenam Mosle[y]
ab vlteriori instancia et Impeticione dicte Ellenæ Smith partis actricis in et de
predicta causa penitus dimmitendum duximus prout ipsam per hanc nostram sentenciam diffinitivam
et absolutoriam penitus dimmittimus et absoluimus. Dictam Ellenam Smith partem actricem
p[ropte]r suam litem temere et sine iusta causa incohatam ac inceptam ac propter iniustam vexacionem
dictæ Katherenæ Mosley illatam, ad solvendum dictæ Katherenæ expensas suas in dicta
causa necessarias factis et imposterum fiendis condempnandum fore decrevimus prout ipsam
Ellenam Smith per hoc finale decretum siue diffinitivam nostram Sententiam in scriptis
per nos iudicaliter Latam Lectam et promulgatam in eijsdem expensis condemp-
namus nobis nihilominus taxacionem huiusmodi expensarum reservatam quæ in presenti
etiam reservamus

[5/1566/9 image 5]

[Endorsement]

Sententia absolutoria Katherenæ Mosley contra et adversus Ellenam Smith in causa diffamationis exhibita [space] Anno Domini 1566

[In a later hand] Prescot

[Produced with the permission of the Chester Diocesan Board of Finance.]

Transcript copyright ©2022 P J Cox All Rights Reserved

People

Ellen Smith – plaintiff

Katherine Moseley – defendant

Thomas Haslingden – witness for the plaintiff (see transcript of EDC 2/8)

William Barnes – witness for the plaintiff (see transcript of EDC 2/8)

Officials

Robert Leche

Subjects

Canon law

Defamatory words

Women

 

Proctors

William Man – for the plaintiff

Robert Parkinson – for the defendant

Places

Prescot

Warrington

Related Causes

EDC 5/1566/10 Prescot

EDC/1566/26 Winwick

 

Notes

See also EDC 5/1566/10 Prescot for the sentence which was issued in the cause of Ellen [Helen] Smith against John Moseley and his wife, Katherine, probably the same cause.

Depositions in a defamation cause between Ellen Smith and Jane Taylor (EDC/1566/26 Winwick) show that John Moseley had bribed Jane Taylor to slander Ellen Smith.

The defamation comprised a claim that Ellen Smith had given birth to an illegitimate child. (See Deposition Book EDC 2/8 ff. 1v-2, 11-11v, 19v-20 for depositions etc. in this and associated cases).